diff --git a/Doc/library/locale.rst b/Doc/library/locale.rst
index 5aaf4a3..181f534 100644
--- a/Doc/library/locale.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/locale.rst
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@
    sequence of strings.
 
 
-.. function:: format(format, val, grouping=False, monetary=False)
+.. function:: format_string(format, val, grouping=False, monetary=False)
 
    Formats a number *val* according to the current :const:`LC_NUMERIC` setting.
    The format follows the conventions of the ``%`` operator.  For floating point
@@ -362,15 +362,23 @@
    If *monetary* is true, the conversion uses monetary thousands separator and
    grouping strings.
 
-   Please note that this function will only work for exactly one %char specifier.
-   For whole format strings, use :func:`format_string`.
-
-
-.. function:: format_string(format, val, grouping=False)
-
    Processes formatting specifiers as in ``format % val``, but takes the current
    locale settings into account.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.7
+      The *monetary* keyword parameter was added.
+
+
+.. function:: format(format, val, grouping=False, monetary=False)
+
+   Please note that this function works like format_string but will only work
+   for exactly one %char specifier.
+
+   For whole format strings, use :func:`format_string`.
+
+   .. deprecated:: 3.7
+      Use :meth:`format_string` instead
+
 
 .. function:: currency(val, symbol=True, grouping=False, international=False)
 
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst
index b69f452..8f09621 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst
@@ -76,16 +76,14 @@
 ======================
 
 * More than 255 arguments can now be passed to a function, and a function can
-  now have more than 255 parameters.
-  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`12844` and :issue:`18896`.)
+  now have more than 255 parameters. (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in
+  :issue:`12844` and :issue:`18896`.)
 
 * :meth:`bytes.fromhex` and :meth:`bytearray.fromhex` now ignore all ASCII
-  whitespace, not only spaces.
-  (Contributed by Robert Xiao in :issue:`28927`.)
+  whitespace, not only spaces. (Contributed by Robert Xiao in :issue:`28927`.)
 
 * :exc:`ImportError` now displays module name and module ``__file__`` path when
-  ``from ... import ...`` fails.
-  (Contributed by Matthias Bussonnier in :issue:`29546`.)
+  ``from ... import ...`` fails. (Contributed by Matthias Bussonnier in :issue:`29546`.)
 
 
 New Modules
@@ -97,25 +95,32 @@
 Improved Modules
 ================
 
+locale
+------
+
+Added another argument *monetary* in :meth:`format_string` of :mod:`locale`.
+If *monetary* is true, the conversion uses monetary thousands separator and
+grouping strings. (Contributed by Garvit in :issue:`10379`.)
+
 os
 --
 
-Added support for :class:`bytes` paths in :func:`~os.fwalk`.
-(Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`28682`.)
+Added support for :class:`bytes` paths in :func:`~os.fwalk`. (Contributed by
+Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`28682`.)
 
 unittest.mock
 -------------
 
 The :const:`~unittest.mock.sentinel` attributes now preserve their identity
-when they are :mod:`copied <copy>` or :mod:`pickled <pickle>`.
-(Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`20804`.)
+when they are :mod:`copied <copy>` or :mod:`pickled <pickle>`. (Contributed by
+Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`20804`.)
 
 xmlrpc.server
 -------------
 
 :meth:`register_function` of :class:`xmlrpc.server.SimpleXMLRPCDispatcher` and
-its subclasses can be used as a decorator.
-(Contributed by Xiang Zhang in :issue:`7769`.)
+its subclasses can be used as a decorator. (Contributed by Xiang Zhang in
+:issue:`7769`.)
 
 urllib.parse
 ------------
@@ -130,13 +135,13 @@
 
 * Added two new opcodes: ``LOAD_METHOD`` and ``CALL_METHOD`` to avoid
   instantiation of bound method objects for method calls, which results
-  in method calls being faster up to 20%.
-  (Contributed by Yury Selivanov and INADA Naoki in :issue:`26110`.)
+  in method calls being faster up to 20%. (Contributed by Yury Selivanov and
+  INADA Naoki in :issue:`26110`.)
 
 * Fast implementation from standard C library is now used for functions
   :func:`~math.tgamma`, :func:`~math.lgamma`, :func:`~math.erf` and
-  :func:`~math.erfc` in the :mod:`math` module.
-  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`26121`.)
+  :func:`~math.erfc` in the :mod:`math` module. (Contributed by Serhiy
+  Storchaka in :issue:`26121`.)
 
 
 Build and C API Changes
@@ -154,8 +159,8 @@
   ``char *``.  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`28761`.)
 
 * The result of :c:func:`PyUnicode_AsUTF8AndSize` and :c:func:`PyUnicode_AsUTF8`
-  is now of type ``const char *`` rather of ``char *``.
-  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`28769`.)
+  is now of type ``const char *`` rather of ``char *``. (Contributed by Serhiy
+  Storchaka in :issue:`28769`.)
 
 * Added functions :c:func:`PySlice_Unpack` and :c:func:`PySlice_AdjustIndices`.
   (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`27867`.)
@@ -169,6 +174,9 @@
   ``0x03050400`` and ``0x03060000`` (not including) or ``0x03060100`` or
   higher.  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`27867`.)
 
+- Deprecated :meth:`format` from :mod:`locale`, use the :meth:`format_string`
+  instead. (Contributed by Garvit in :issue:`10379`.)
+
 - Methods
   :meth:`MetaPathFinder.find_module() <importlib.abc.MetaPathFinder.find_module>`
   (replaced by
@@ -181,8 +189,8 @@
   by Matthias Bussonnier in :issue:`29576`)
 
 - Using non-integer value for selecting a plural form in :mod:`gettext` is
-  now deprecated.  It never correctly worked.
-  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`28692`.)
+  now deprecated.  It never correctly worked. (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka
+  in :issue:`28692`.)
 
 
 Changes in the C API
@@ -229,8 +237,8 @@
 
 * A format string argument for :meth:`string.Formatter.format`
   is now :ref:`positional-only <positional-only_parameter>`.
-  Passing it as a keyword argument was deprecated in Python 3.5.
-  (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`29193`.)
+  Passing it as a keyword argument was deprecated in Python 3.5. (Contributed
+  by Serhiy Storchaka in :issue:`29193`.)
 
 * Attributes :attr:`~http.cookies.Morsel.key`,
   :attr:`~http.cookies.Morsel.value` and
@@ -244,8 +252,8 @@
   ``ClassDef`` AST nodes now have a new ``docstring`` field.
   The first statement in their body is not considered as a docstring
   anymore.  ``co_firstlineno`` and ``co_lnotab`` of code object for class
-  and module are affected by this change.
-  (Contributed by INADA Naoki and Eugene Toder in :issue:`29463`.)
+  and module are affected by this change. (Contributed by INADA Naoki and
+  Eugene Toder in :issue:`29463`.)
 
 * The *mode* argument of :func:`os.makedirs` no longer affects the file
   permission bits of newly-created intermediate-level directories.
diff --git a/Lib/locale.py b/Lib/locale.py
index f8d1d78..50cd652 100644
--- a/Lib/locale.py
+++ b/Lib/locale.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import collections
 from builtins import str as _builtin_str
 import functools
+import warnings
 
 # Try importing the _locale module.
 #
@@ -180,19 +181,6 @@
 _percent_re = re.compile(r'%(?:\((?P<key>.*?)\))?'
                          r'(?P<modifiers>[-#0-9 +*.hlL]*?)[eEfFgGdiouxXcrs%]')
 
-def format(percent, value, grouping=False, monetary=False, *additional):
-    """Returns the locale-aware substitution of a %? specifier
-    (percent).
-
-    additional is for format strings which contain one or more
-    '*' modifiers."""
-    # this is only for one-percent-specifier strings and this should be checked
-    match = _percent_re.match(percent)
-    if not match or len(match.group())!= len(percent):
-        raise ValueError(("format() must be given exactly one %%char "
-                         "format specifier, %s not valid") % repr(percent))
-    return _format(percent, value, grouping, monetary, *additional)
-
 def _format(percent, value, grouping=False, monetary=False, *additional):
     if additional:
         formatted = percent % ((value,) + additional)
@@ -217,10 +205,13 @@
             formatted = _strip_padding(formatted, seps)
     return formatted
 
-def format_string(f, val, grouping=False):
+def format_string(f, val, grouping=False, monetary=False):
     """Formats a string in the same way that the % formatting would use,
     but takes the current locale into account.
-    Grouping is applied if the third parameter is true."""
+
+    Grouping is applied if the third parameter is true.
+    Conversion uses monetary thousands separator and grouping strings if
+    forth parameter monetary is true."""
     percents = list(_percent_re.finditer(f))
     new_f = _percent_re.sub('%s', f)
 
@@ -230,7 +221,7 @@
             if perc.group()[-1]=='%':
                 new_val.append('%')
             else:
-                new_val.append(format(perc.group(), val, grouping))
+                new_val.append(_format(perc.group(), val, grouping, monetary))
     else:
         if not isinstance(val, tuple):
             val = (val,)
@@ -244,13 +235,27 @@
                 new_val.append(_format(perc.group(),
                                       val[i],
                                       grouping,
-                                      False,
+                                      monetary,
                                       *val[i+1:i+1+starcount]))
                 i += (1 + starcount)
     val = tuple(new_val)
 
     return new_f % val
 
+def format(percent, value, grouping=False, monetary=False, *additional):
+    """Deprecated, use format_string instead."""
+    warnings.warn(
+        "This method will be removed in a future version of Python."
+        "Use 'locale.format_string()' instead.",
+        DeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2
+    )
+
+    match = _percent_re.match(percent)
+    if not match or len(match.group())!= len(percent):
+        raise ValueError(("format() must be given exactly one %%char "
+                         "format specifier, %s not valid") % repr(percent))
+    return _format(percent, value, grouping, monetary, *additional)
+
 def currency(val, symbol=True, grouping=False, international=False):
     """Formats val according to the currency settings
     in the current locale."""
@@ -262,7 +267,7 @@
         raise ValueError("Currency formatting is not possible using "
                          "the 'C' locale.")
 
-    s = format('%%.%if' % digits, abs(val), grouping, monetary=True)
+    s = _format('%%.%if' % digits, abs(val), grouping, monetary=True)
     # '<' and '>' are markers if the sign must be inserted between symbol and value
     s = '<' + s + '>'
 
@@ -298,7 +303,7 @@
 
 def str(val):
     """Convert float to string, taking the locale into account."""
-    return format("%.12g", val)
+    return _format("%.12g", val)
 
 def delocalize(string):
     "Parses a string as a normalized number according to the locale settings."
@@ -327,7 +332,7 @@
 def _test():
     setlocale(LC_ALL, "")
     #do grouping
-    s1 = format("%d", 123456789,1)
+    s1 = format_string("%d", 123456789,1)
     print(s1, "is", atoi(s1))
     #standard formatting
     s1 = str(3.14)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_locale.py b/Lib/test/test_locale.py
index 99fab58..06d2866 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_locale.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_locale.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import locale
 import sys
 import codecs
+import warnings
 
 class BaseLocalizedTest(unittest.TestCase):
     #
@@ -197,6 +198,10 @@
         self._test_format("%+10.f", -4200, grouping=0, out='-4200'.rjust(10))
         self._test_format("%-10.f", 4200, grouping=0, out='4200'.ljust(10))
 
+    def test_format_deprecation(self):
+        with self.assertWarns(DeprecationWarning):
+            locale.format("%-10.f", 4200, grouping=True)
+
     def test_complex_formatting(self):
         # Spaces in formatting string
         self._test_format_string("One million is %i", 1000000, grouping=1,
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_types.py b/Lib/test/test_types.py
index 4a9fcba..67d3281 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_types.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_types.py
@@ -381,8 +381,8 @@
 
         for i in range(-10, 10):
             x = 1234567890.0 * (10.0 ** i)
-            self.assertEqual(locale.format('%g', x, grouping=True), format(x, 'n'))
-            self.assertEqual(locale.format('%.10g', x, grouping=True), format(x, '.10n'))
+            self.assertEqual(locale.format_string('%g', x, grouping=True), format(x, 'n'))
+            self.assertEqual(locale.format_string('%.10g', x, grouping=True), format(x, '.10n'))
 
     @run_with_locale('LC_NUMERIC', 'en_US.UTF8')
     def test_int__format__locale(self):
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@
 
         x = 123456789012345678901234567890
         for i in range(0, 30):
-            self.assertEqual(locale.format('%d', x, grouping=True), format(x, 'n'))
+            self.assertEqual(locale.format_string('%d', x, grouping=True), format(x, 'n'))
 
             # move to the next integer to test
             x = x // 10
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 024b31d..eceee8d 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -397,6 +397,9 @@
 - bpo-29534: Fixed different behaviour of Decimal.from_float()
   for _decimal and _pydecimal. Thanks Andrew Nester.
 
+- bpo-10379: locale.format_string now supports the 'monetary' keyword argument,
+  and locale.format is deprecated.
+
 - Issue #28556: Various updates to typing module: typing.Counter, typing.ChainMap,
   improved ABC caching, etc. Original PRs by Jelle Zijlstra, Ivan Levkivskyi,
   Manuel Krebber, and Łukasz Langa.